The investigation of thermoluminescence properties ofdental ceramics

Dental ceramics taken from humans who are potentially exposed to radiation, are commonly used as retrospective dosimetry for quick and reliable dose estimations due to nuclear power plants that are close to settlement of people. Nowadays most people have a dental restoration for the compulsory health problem and aesthetic beauty. Moreover dental restorations are usually applied to the front teeth, it can be considered that the radiation directly interact with the material. Therefore, dental ceramics could be potentially used for retrospective dosimetry purposes since allows a quick and reliable dose assessment in case of nuclear accident or bad use of a nuclear attack. Therefore, dental ceramics that used in restoration of human teeth as an accident dosimetry by thermally stimulated luminescence method have been investigated in this study. Glass ceramic, lithium disilicate glass ceramic and feldspathic dental ceramic which used in this study were obtained from Vivadent ivoclar, Sweden and Turkey, respectively. The aim of the study is to investigate the thermoluminescence dose response, the effects of heating rates on the thermoluminescence characteristics, the stability of the dental ceramics with respect to the cycle of measurement and also fading properties of dental ceramics. Finally we compared the samples with respect to their TL characteristic properties to choose the most suitable dosimetric ceramic.